BJP leader urges Union Coal Minister to ensure adequate supplies to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in Andhra Pradesh

Production at Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, suffered due to non-availability of domestic coal and high cost of imported coal, G.V.L. Narasimha Rao tells Prahlad Joshi

BJP Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao met Union Minister of Coal Prahlad Joshi in New Delhi on Thursday, and sought adequate supply of coal and extended credit period for the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP).

Taking up the issue of shortage of coal being faced by the steel plant, Mr. Narasimha Rao urged Mr. Joshi to ensure supply of adequate quantity of coking coal from the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and boiler coal from Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), both subsidiaries of the public sector Coal India Limited.

Mr. Narasimha Rao also urged the Union Minister to extend credit to tide over the working capital problems that the steel plant had been facing.

Mr. Narasimha Rao explained that the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, had been suffering severe financial crisis for decades, as the public sector steel plant did not have captive coal and iron ore mines, resulting in higher cost of production.

Stating that it was a “legacy problem,” Mr. Narasimha Rao blamed the successive Central and State governments for “neglecting the interests of RINL for decades,” by not allocating the captive mines for its raw material needs.

He informed the Union Minister that the production at RINL suffered in the recent months due to non-availability of domestic coal for steel production and high cost of imported coal.

Mr. Narasimha Rao also said that RINL had also been facing severe working capital crunch due to rising cost of raw materials, unfavourable market conditions, and the PSUs reluctance to offer credit to RINL for its coal requirements.